The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) clarified to Agriland how tillage farmers can meet some specific requirements for Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS).

Tillage farmers can ensure that their lands meet Statutory Management Requirements (SMRs) by “complying with regulations on environmental protection, food safety, plant health, and pesticide use”, a DAFM spokesperson said.

Specific actions that tillage farmers can undertake to achieve compliance include "keeping accurate records in relation to the use of fertilisers and plant protection products (PPP)."

Farmers are also advised to protect watercourses by "adhering to buffer zones when undertaking field operations such as cultivations, and with fertiliser and PPP applications”. 

Many of these requirements fall under DAFM's Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions, or GAEC. There are nine GAECs, some of which are related to soil.

GAEC 5: Soil erosion

The objective of GAEC 5 is to limit or reduce soil erosion.

DAFM shared precise steps farmers can take to cultivate healthy soil, including:

Land should not be bare for a period greater than four months. Avoid finely tilled soils not in the process of crop establishment, e.g., ground tilled for sowing but where sowing is delayed for a significant period of time;
Where grassland is ploughed between July 1 and October 15, the necessary measures must have taken place within 14 days of ploughing to provide for the emergence of green cover from a sown crop;
Do not plough grassland between October 16 and November 30;
Arable land with a slope greater than or equal to 15% cannot be ploughed between December 1 and December 31;
Farmers should use suitable machinery and trailers; e.g. low ground pressure tyres, and avoid damaging the soil structure in unfavourable weather conditions. 

GAEC 6: Minimum soil cover

GAEC 6 is also soil-related, and is aimed at limiting or reducing soil erosion by promoting minimum soil cover on grassland and arable land during sensitive periods.

Recommended steps include:

In the case of arable land, if applying a non-selective herbicide between  July 1 and November 30, take the necessary measures to provide for the emergence of green cover within six weeks of application. In the case of seed crops and crops for human consumption, where a contract prohibits pre-harvest use of a non-selective herbicide, the requirement to provide green cover is reduced to 75% of the contracted area where the herbicide is applied after October 15;
Do not remove sown green cover before December 1 by the use of non-selective herbicides unless a crop is sown within two weeks of its removal.

Other requirements centre on avoiding severe poaching of land and prohibiting sacrifice paddocks.

GAEC 7: Soil potential 

The main objective of GAEC 7 is preserving soil potential and it is applicable to arable land only.

Crop rotation must be implemented at parcel level and is based on a four-year rotation cycle resulting in at least two different crops in years 2023-2026 inclusive.

However, since 2025, farmers can meet the requirements of GAEC 7 through crop diversification, which involves the growing of a minimum number of crops each year.

These requirements depend on the arable area on the holding and, in some cases, the total holding size.

Holdings with an arable area greater than 10ha, but less than 30ha, where the total holding area is greater than 30ha, are required to grow at least two arable crops. The main crop must not be more than 75% of the arable land.

Holdings with an arable area greater than 30ha are required to grow at least three arable crops.

The main crop should not be more than 75% of the total arable area, and the two main crops not more than 95% of the total arable land.

As an alternative to the above requirements, holdings may elect to establish catch/cover crops on at least 50% of the arable area annually.

Such crops should be sown by September 15 each year and for them to remain in situ until December 1. ACRES or EIP catch crop areas will not count towards meeting this 50% arable area.   

“Farmers are advised to consult with their FAS approved adviser and familiarise themselves with the Explanatory Handbook for Conditionality Requirements on the DAFM website,” the DAFM representative said.